Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary

Location: 190 km from Delhi and 6km from the Bharatpur Railway station.

Welcome to a maze of colors - the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary or the Keoladeo Ghana National Park, is an amazing world of colorful birds and sweet songs. Full of birds in a range of colors, this sanctuary is home to resident as well as migratory birds from as far as Siberia.

Located between the two most historic cities of India – Agra and Jaipur, the Bharatpur National Park spans an area of over 30 sq km. A diverse range of water birds, migratory birds – both land and water, and local birds can be seen.

Sharing space with the large population of birds are the animals. The Sanctuary is home to many mammals and reptiles. Animals like the Nilgai (blue bull), Chital, Sambar, Blackbucks, wild boar, Jackals, Otters and the Fishing cat can be seen here.

Pythons (especially) Large Rock Python and the Mongoose live here in large numbers too, although seeing a duel between the two is a matter of luck. Monitor Lizards too have found a home for themselves here.

The Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary is home to a bird population of about 380 species. One-third of the bird population is migratory birds and arrives here in the winter from far off places. By August, the visitors start arriving to spend their winter here and start leaving for their breeding grounds in the Arctic and Central Asia by February.

Some of the more interesting migratory birds that can be seen at the bird sanctuary are the Coot Snipes, Red Crested Porhard, Flamingo, Spanish Sparrow and the Rosy Pelicans. But, the species that attracts the most attention is the rare Siberian Crane. The Siberian Crane travels distances up to 6,500 km migrating from the Orb River Basin in Siberia. Apart from the Bharatpur bird Sanctuary, Feredunkenar in Iran is the only place where the Siberian Crane migrates.

Arriving around December, the Siberian Cranes unlike the Indian cranes subside on “Cypress Rotents grass” – an underground aquatic root. The interesting point is that when home these birds have a diet of vegetation, fish and other such small creatures. But they turn vegetarians during their stay in India. The conservationists are doing their best to save the Siberian Cranes from extinction.

The other seasonal inhabitants of the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary include birds as big as the Dalmatian Pelicans, measuring 2m in length and the Siberian Leaf Warbler, measuring just the length of our index finger. Apart from these, several other species of cranes, egrets, corcomorants, darters, geese, duck, herons, hawks, wagtails, wheatears, kingfishers, stints, shanks, flycatchers, larks and pipits come here to spend their winters.

The heronry in Bharatpur is quite unique, as it bustles with ardent and passionate activity. During the breeding season, the population of the chicks can go up to 30,00.

The diversity of topography of the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary comprises of an interesting blend of marshes, bogs and woodland. Two thirds of the Sanctuary is under water and has marshes and bogs. The rest of the area is covered with dry deciduous forests having more than 44,000 trees. These trees and the extensive scrublands and grass lands make up a wonderful home to the birds and animals living in the Bharatpur sanctuary.